Why do you store food?

[me&thegals]

I've heard California agriculture is already getting hit, but it's apparently a water issue. I may not have all my facts straight, but what I heard is that Utah is only going to be piping half the water to CA that they used to.

Just curious, not trying to dispute.

I didn't realize that Utah pipes water to California. I'm pretty sure that Los Angeles gets much (if not all) its water from the Owens Valley which is California.

The Colorado River flows through Utah but I think the water that ends up in California comes from behind Hoover Dam in Nevada.

I would like to know about piping water from Utah to CA. It would be interesting to see that engineering feat.

Ha! The joke's on me! This was passed on to me by husband--the same guy I always demand to know his sources when he states outrageous "facts" to me Well, I guess I should have checked my sources. So, this is hearsay. I don't know it to be true and couldn't find any Google support.

I do think it is quite safe, however, to say that water shortages will become an increasing problem for agriculture that depends on massive amounts of it for irrigation or animal raising.

 

[tamlynn]

Hi! I just found this site from BYC. Very cool. In answer to this question, my first response would be "because my religion strongly encourages it." That's right, I'm a Mormon. We have 72-hr kits in case we need to evacuate our house, a 3-month supply of food, and working on a year's supply of food for our household. This is food that will keep us alive, not necessarily feed us as we are used to eating. My church has a great website with food storage/emergency preparedness/self reliance info if anyone is interested.

http://providentliving.org/

There are also home storage centers in many US states where anyone can go to purchase and can or bag long-term food storage items. Some items are even available through mail order.

http://providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,8133-1-4352-1,00.html

I've never had to live off my food storage, but so many things could happen; illness or disability, natural disaster, economic crises, strikes, job loss, that would make me grateful my family would be okay.

 

[big brown horse]

Wow, thank you for the information!!

You are going to love it here!!

 

[hennypenny9]

Just read this thread. Stockpiling is something I want to do, but don't currently. The funny thing is that I grew up with my mom telling me all this stuff. About pharmaceutical companies, about food shortages, about natural disasters, about politics. Did you know that many people my age (22) think that vaccines are created by magical not-for-profit groups that have no ulterior motives? I wrote a paper on autism and vaccines and many of my class thought it was crazy because "no one's making money on vaccines, so they would have no reason to push unhealthy amounts on the public."

Okay, back from my rant. Anyway, growing up, we could lose power during snow/wind storms and be unable to get to a store for weeks. We just cooked on the wood stove and burned candles. The best purchase we made was a crank powered radio. Also a non-battery flashlight. Would highly recommend that.

I'm also looking into non-hybrid seeds. My mom tells me that those will be the currency if society ever breaks down. (Although she is prone to hysteria, she's often right. So I try not to dismiss her.)

 

[TanksHill]

Hey henny have you seen this site? The young man has an interesting story.
http://rareseeds.com/
The catalogue is amazing!!! Sign up for next years you'll love it.

 

[hennypenny9]

Oh, looks interesting! Do you know how many varieties of fruits and vegetables we've lost? Neither do I, but there are more than the few kinds of apples/oranges/onions etc, that we find at the store. Also, I heard that soil depletion and other man caused problems have made our foods less nutritious. It's so depressing! Check out how many kinds of apples you can get from here. http://www.bernwodeplants.co.uk/apples.htm

I could start on another massive rant, but I won't. I need to start stockpiling food. I really won't until I move, and can see what I should get for my new home. For example, at the house I grew up in, water came from a well, so we had water even if they power went out. But maybe I'll need water at my new place. I really really want a wood stove (freestanding!) and a floorplan which will allow me to heat efficiently. Basically a cabin. Oh lord, I want the house I grew up in.

 

[me&thegals]

This brings up an interesting thought. When I started this thread, I was thinking of storing canned or dried food. But, I just realized that I store "potential food" in my yard like crazy. We have put in dozens of fruit trees and bushes, strawberries, currants, raspberries, perennial herbs, asparagus, rhubarb, etc. We protect our foraged food to the extent we can. And, I've learned a bit about seed saving if that were to become necessary. For now, I'm happy to support the companies like Rare seeds, Seeds of Change and Seed Savers Exchange who are doing this much better than I could

Then, we bought lots of meat chicks this year, about 70 more pullets (could let them go broody), 11 turkey chicks and 2 bee hives. All of these give us the potential for food, most of them having the ability to reproduce themselves to greater numbers.

So, just a new way to think of stockpiling food...

 

[Mackay]

The Colorado River flows through Utah but I think the water that ends up in California comes from behind Hoover Dam in Nevada.

I would like to know about piping water from Utah to CA. It would be interesting to see that engineering feat.

I assure you, the water behind the Hoover Dam/Lake Meade is the Colorado River, as is the water in Glen Canyon Dam/Lake Powell. Hoover dam has retained the Colorado River since 1936, primarily for the use in the agricultural Imperial Valley and Los Angles.

It is a fantastic engineering feat that put many to work during the depression. Having been to both dams over the years, I can vouch that the dams and the lakes they create make for an excellent vacation experience.

 

[Mackay]

Then, we bought lots of meat chicks this year, about 70 more pullets (could let them go broody), 11 turkey chicks and 2 bee hives. All of these give us the potential for food, most of them having the ability to reproduce themselves to greater numbers.

So, just a new way to think of stockpiling food...

Way to go

 

[FarmerDenise]

We have an earthquake preparedness kit that we keep in the enclosed porch. It constists of a large rubbermaid bin on wheels. We have it filled with all the recommended stuff to last us for a week not just 72 hrs as recomended.
That's the official story.
I grew up very poor and went without many times. Eventually we moved to the country where we could forage and grow our own food and we did. It was great to have a pantry and cellar filled with goods. There was always plenty of wood for chopping, thus warming you twice. I still like to see a full pantry of mainly home canned goods and an ample woodpile.
SO grew up with plenty. His father owned a grocery store and it made him feel secure that there was always food etc. In recent years his father sold the store and SO doesn't feel so secure anymore.
So now we have two refrigerators and a goodsized pantry and like to keep both well stocked. We primarily try to live off the land, but we stock up on stuff like rice, coffee and cooking oil.
I have grown up using herbal remedies and try to keep up on them. We grow many plants ourselves and know how to use them. I also have many herbal books, so I can always look stuff up.
I just rather rely on myself than the government.
Like others have said, we are a little worried that folks might realize that we have stocked up and then take from us at times of need.